Budget Machine Thread Of Joy™

Post by **Dog Pants** » November 29th, 2008, 14:33

Fear wrote:
Why? I have an 8800 GT 512MB RAM, can't be much different to what you have, and it plays everything 1920x1200 smoothly.

It seems to cause a lot of crashes. Could be my RAM, but one of my monitors suddenly turning purple sounds video related. I don't hate all 8800gts, just mine.

Fear · Post by **Fear** » November 29th, 2008, 15:07

Dog Pants wrote:It seems to cause a lot of crashes. Could be my RAM, but one of my monitors suddenly turning purple sounds video related. I don't hate all 8800gts, just mine.

Ah I see.

Post by **HereComesPete** » November 29th, 2008, 15:53

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
I think that covers it.

This thread is really meant to give people a relatively future-proof machine, I figure that'd be allowing for an upgrade after 12-18 months to give the machine at least another year's useful life.

But, as nehalem/I7 is out, and pretty fucking expensive right now, I can't spec that under the budget machine thread, and building a core 2 machine wouldn't give the upgradability I aim for in these specs.

Admittedly, Socket 775 is still gonna be supported for a while, but more as a low end offering from what I've heard.

I think I completely missed that.

Just replace the sticky with 'don't buy anything (unless some shit breaks and it's a need not a want) right now, wait until after christmas'

I think they'll take their time on peddling i7, the only mobo's to hit market so far are very pricey, the x58 chip-set is meant to be super duper but damn picky and proliferation across boards hasn't happened yet. Plus it's ddr3 in 3 channel, too big a price jump for pretty much everyone right now.

I think their 'low end' is still going to see everyone to the end of next year at least, possibly longer. Depends on how pretty you want everything.

I can't see many price drops happening to c2d, it's damn cheap already. I also think your targets in terms of viable game playability of a year/18 months is still true on the c2d set-up, and I also think you'll get at least 2 years from the top end cards. The i7 is flaming ninja fast, but the c2d isn't exactly crap.

Pants - I think if you're looking to upgrade right now then imo a 260 has a slight edge at the res you run over the 4870. And of course the better warranties, step-up programs and general level of driver support. Apart from vintage games where ATi have the edge on ensuring compatibility.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » November 29th, 2008, 17:41

WTF seriously....

after 6 years I finally get a clean slate + decent budget (1000+vat) from Mrs B and you're telling me "don't buy now"...?

FUUUUUUUUCK

c',mon please, let me

srsly, wdyurkn; dual core at mega discount in jan or quad really going to come down?

*possibly just spent the afternoon watching Eng getting their hats handed to them by the kiwis....

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » November 29th, 2008, 18:19

bomberesque wrote:WTF seriously....

after 6 years I finally get a clean slate + decent budget (1000+vat) from Mrs B and you're telling me "don't buy now"...?

FUUUUUUUUCK

c',mon please, let me

srsly, wdyurkn; dual core at mega discount in jan or quad really going to come down?

*possibly just spent the afternoon watching Eng getting their hats handed to them by the kiwis....

You could buy a core 2 machine now, and you'll have a really, really nice machine, no doubt about it.

However I personally wouldn't. In 12-18 months, you're really gonna struggle to upgrade without at least replacing the mobo and CPU (and memory, unless you build a DDR3 machine)

The spec pete posted is good*, but it's a fair bit of money right now, due to it being new hardware, after the primary gifting period, I'd expect to see that come down a way as I7 gets more mainstream.

*though I'd trim it with a GTX260, 650w psu and cheaper ram (or just 3gb) as it's super pricey right now)

Post by **HereComesPete** » November 29th, 2008, 19:43

Primary gifting period - tinselworm?

I'd not buy that spec even if I did have the money narf, the board is the cheapest I could find and it's a mid/high one that offers nothing special but price imo. I'd get a cheaper 'enthusiast' mobo when they arrived, one with less overhead for oc'ing, I just wouldn't need it on a set-up like that, it's like using nos in a super car.

Same with ram - it's dominator and that really isn't needed because why overclock ram above the speed it already has? So you can run 2x crysis in full everything on two separate windows? You can get good ddr3 stuff cheaper than that, just not covered in lights/heatsinks etc.

Psu like Berk said is overkill, I just chucked it in because it was plenty powerful. I'd go for something like a corsair modular around 6/700w, plenty of juice from them, and more rails than you know what to do with.

Would go 280 though, I don't have particularly high res so wouldn't benefit from the x2's superior high res ability, it's fairly close at 1680x1050, enough that it really wouldn't be noticeable. And the warranties/drivers etc sway me to nvidia still, despite their cuntishness at initial pricing. neither card is best bang for buck narf, think the 260 has that, but I dislike buying cards that aren't stupidly fast cupcake cards.

It's a bad time for buying this stuff, it's new, it's fresh and there's not much in the way of variety on some parts. Bad timing on the money bomber (if there is such a thing!) put it in the bank, get interest, buy cheaper in the new year when there's more choice is what I'd do.

But on the other hand - factoring in the games you might play, do you need bleeding edge? A c2quad machine might do you 18 months/couple of years if you're just on mongs and rts', if you want the sexy fps' and the tech demo games, it'll fall down fast and leave you wishing you had the i7.

The c2d and c2quad, I don't think their price will drop that much more, Intel can't without sacrificing their profit margin. The phenom II (if they're any good) might change that as they push them down to hold AMD off, but it's got to be benchmarked and proven before that, and it's still a way off.

It's a strange time, feels slow in the market (imo) but there's a lot changing right now that's kinda creeping along. Ddr3 was ridiculous extravagance not long ago, now it's becoming a viable upgrade.

The i7 dropped far quieter than I expected, this soft launch thing they are all doing seems odd to me. I've seen more adverts for Intel's new duo/quad mobile chips than the i7.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » February 25th, 2009, 18:35

*thread revival

worth looking at i7 yet?

I had a sniff of a possibility to get a (sorta) free PC from Mrs B's work but it evaporated when they said it had to be a) a Dell and b) some shite spec that I couldn't change.

So back on the market for a build-your-own sometimes in the next month*

So, what's the scoop?

*probably .... if I don't blow the cash on beer or another bike

Post by **deject** » February 25th, 2009, 18:41

Core i7 is still not feasible for a budget machine. At this point, Core 2 or Phenom II are the only good options. Neither one has much of a future upgrade path though.

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » February 25th, 2009, 18:46

Seeing as we share countries, I know how expensive computer parts (and other hardware) is, it might be worth looking into buying stuff from Holland, Britain is also an option but since you have to ship overseas and stuff I don't think you'd be much cheaper off.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » February 25th, 2009, 18:48

deject wrote:Core i7 is still not feasible for a budget machine. At this point, Core 2 or Phenom II are the only good options. Neither one has much of a future upgrade path though.

i7 is still bloody pricy

Post by **HereComesPete** » February 25th, 2009, 19:47

There's more choice in ram and mobo now, but generally the stuff is still taking it's time on getting to the marketplace and none of it is cheap.

Here's the kind of system I'd build from nehalem stuff right now. Remember you'll also need a screen (or two) of at least 24" to be worth it. Any less and you'll not see the power of the card.

OCUK wrote: BFG GeForce GTX 285 OC 1024MB GDDR3 £321.99

Corsair 6GB DDR3 Dominator PC3-14400C9 1866MHz (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 £304.74

Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) £252.99

Gigabyte EX58-UD4P Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £215.04

Corsair HX 1000W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply £195.49

Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 10000RPM SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £155.24

Antec 900-2 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £101.19

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £83.94

Asus DRW-22B1LT 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer (Black/Silver) £22.99

Total = £1666.24

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » February 25th, 2009, 19:59

I'd do similar to pete, but a lesser PSU (750w would be plenty, 650 would probably be fine) and not bother with the raptor.

Code: Select all

Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail	 	£252.99

Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) 	£175.94

Corsair 6GB DDR3 XMS3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz (3x2GB) Triple Channel £106.94

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » March 1st, 2009, 7:51

ta for the spec, I'll take a look at that. I'll need to come in at around 1200 though, 16-1700 is a bit much narf unless I can sneak some extra budget past mrs B. I have a 23" screen atm, a second one is tempting....

I could get stuff out here from the UK without getting hit too hard as there's always people coming and going who I could get to courier stuffs.

/edit

how about this for £1604.48 inc VAT

Code: Select all

- Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
- Gigabyte EX58-UD4P Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
- OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-15000 (3x2GB) Reaper Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3RPR1866C9LV3GK)
- XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10000RPM SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD3000HLFS)
- LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail
- Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound professionally hand installed by our technicians

preassembled from OCuk (just realised that with the pound being so

atm my mighty euros will go further

)

probably a hundred more than the components, but seems to be very close to your suggestion. the GFX card I'm not clear on though....

oh, and xp or fista? everything I have atm is XP, never even used fista (work is still on W2k)

TheJockGit · Post by **TheJockGit** » March 1st, 2009, 11:44

tis berk, no idea who's actually logged in.

machine looks good, but I'd take nvidia graphics over ati.

fista is fine, probably better for a high spec machine than xp.

TheJockGit · Post by **TheJockGit** » March 1st, 2009, 11:45

oh, and get a corsair PSU, avoid ocz, I don't trust them.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » April 5th, 2009, 9:25

Finally dropped the hammer;

Code: Select all

- Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz Overclocked to 3.40GHz! (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
- Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
- OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Gold Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit
- Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (102-B50902-00-AT)
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache
- Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
- Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU
- Microsoft Windows Fista Ultimate SP1 32-Bit - OEM (66R-02031)

twas cheaper than the other one although almost exactly the same spec. I'm sure I'm missing something and I've ordered a polished turd or somehting. The only thing I can see is the slower HDD (the other one was 10k rather than 7200) but meh, upgradeable if I feel the need.

should be here next week

ta for the advice, took a while for me to be hungover enough to stop worrying and just order the damn thing

/edit, bah, just noticed had meant to order the NVida GFX. Well, I'm sure this will blow my eyeballs out anyway and it's 125 notes cheaper

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » April 5th, 2009, 10:06

but you want Fista 64bit. (though I think possibly you can install 64 bit with that key and disc, dunno)

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » April 5th, 2009, 11:21

bah, I thought 64 bit was a problem for some reason I can't now recall. The price difference is a whole pound so I've emailed them to see if they can change teh order before shipment. Suppose it shouldn't be too much drama for them

Is it a big problem if I end up with 32 bit? What are the constraints?

Post by **HereComesPete** » April 5th, 2009, 14:38

I'm not a fan of that cpu cooloer you've got. The direct contact is good, but the actual copper pipe/metal pad bit is too small to entirely cover the i7 chip.

I'm also not a fan of seagate right now, I think that hdd you've ordered may be one with fucked up firmware that means it keeps spinning up at random times and the pc then loses it and can't see it to use.

It was 64 bit xp that was honky. Nothing wrong with 32 bit fista or 64 bit fista that isn't just plain wrong. The 64 bit version makes stuff happen better and faster. It's the whole 32 bit OS's can't address more than ~4GB of ram thing again.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » April 5th, 2009, 16:00

With 32 bit you'll only see 3.something GB of your ram. I wouldn't have got that mobo, it only has 4 ram slots but it'll still work fine, just less upgradable.

The cooler is fine, I have it, it's nice and quiet and currently I have my 920 oc'd to 3.3 ghz with plenty room to spare, probably going to aim for 3.5ghz.